The World Cup countdown starts now - and coaches have no time for tinkering

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Eddie Jones recently returned from another fact-finding mission to JapanCredit:
afp

It is difficult to overstate how much times have changed since I went to my first Rugby World Cup 31 years ago. These days, with a year to go until the next World Cup in Japan, everything off the pitch has been meticulously prepared, certainly as far as the biggest nations are concerned.

Eddie Jones recently returned from another fact-finding mission with all of his staff – medical, playing, coaching, media, that kind of thing. And they will by now have everything mapped out to the tiniest detail. They will know where they are staying, what they are eating, the average temperatures in Japan at that time of year, right down to how long it takes to get from training to the ice baths - every aspect...